星
ほし
hepburn hoshi
star
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 夜空に星がきれいです。The stars are beautiful in the night sky.
- 彼はスポーツ界のスターです。He's a star in the sports world.
Collocations
星 (hoshi, star)星座 (seiza, constellation)スター (sutaa, star — loanword for celebrity)星占い (hoshi uranai, astrology)七夕 (tanabata, Star Festival — July 7)
Mnemonic
ほし — 星, Yamato. The kanji 星 is 日 (sun) + 生 (born) = 'a thing born of light in the sky' = a star. The composition is its picture. In the onyomi せい sei, the word turns astronomical ── 星座 seiza (constellation), 火星 kasei (Mars), 金星 kinsei (Venus), 惑星 wakusei (planet). Japan's star festival 七夕 tanabata (July 7) celebrates the Cowherd-Weaver legend by writing wishes on 短冊 tanzaku (small paper strips) and hanging them on 笹竹 sasatake (bamboo grass). For 'celebrity / star' the loanword スター sutaa (from English) takes the seat; the native 星 stays in astronomy and astrology. The Korean reading seong is sister to the onyomi せい.
Quick check
Core ritual of Japan's 七夕 star festival?